Biden had no prior prostate cancer diagnosis, says spokesperson

Joe Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer before last week, a spokesperson for the former US president said Tuesday, adding that his last prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was in 2014.

The statement follows remarks from President Donald Trump, who questioned the timing of the diagnosis and suggested the information may have been withheld. “I’m surprised the public wasn’t notified a long time ago,” Trump said, fueling speculation of a cover-up.

Biden’s office announced Sunday that the 82-year-old had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer after a nodule was recently discovered.

“Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” the spokesperson told AFP.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men and is often detected early through PSA blood tests. Trump, a longtime critic of Biden’s health and mental acuity, has repeatedly raised questions about his Democratic rival’s fitness for office.

And Trump and his allies have now raised questions about when Biden and his doctors knew about the cancer, given its advanced nature and the intensive medical scrutiny of US presidents.

But annual PSA screening after the age of 70 is not universally recommended.

The US Preventive Services Task Force advises against it, reasoning that the risk of false positives and the harms from biopsies and treatment outweigh the benefits.

Biden would have been aged between 71 and 72 at the age of the 2014 test.

Medical experts interviewed by AFP said the late identification of an advanced cancer would not be unheard of, even for a former president receiving top-of-the-line medical care.

Biden´s office did not say whether the former president had separately been given prostate exams.

Questions over Biden's health dogged him throughout his curtailed reelection campaign and have been renewed in recent weeks ahead of the release of a book detailing what it calls his declining physical condition.

The ex-president expressed gratitude on Monday for an outpouring of "love and support" following his cancer diagnosis.